Newport Beach police this weekend released new sketches of a man wanted in the death of an 11-year-old homicide victim 45 years ago.

The sketches, showing how he might have appeared in 1973 and could have aged, were revealed at the end of a series of tweets by police about Linda O’Keefe. They were written in the first-person as if the girl were telling her own story.

“But now, 45 yrs later, I have a voice again. And I have something important to say. There is a new lead in my case: a face. A face that comes from DNA that the killer left behind. It’s technology that didn’t exist back in 1973, but it might change everything today.” #LindasStorypic.twitter.com/GsZClKFwPj

“But now, 45 yrs later, I have a voice again,” read the Saturday, July 7 tweet. “And I have something important to say. There is a new lead in my case: a face. A face that comes from DNA that the killer left behind. It’s technology that didn’t exist back in 1973, but it might change everything today.”

Another tweet reminded readers to call authorities with any tips.

“If you can help find my killer, please call the NBPD’s Cold Case Tip Line at 949-644-3669. And please share my story… all it takes is for one person out there to recognize his face, even after all these years. Thank you.” #LindasStorypic.twitter.com/bltYY9AaDW

“If you can help find my killer, please call the NBPD’s Cold Case Tip Line at 949-644-3669,” the tweet says. “And please share my story… all it takes is for one person out there to recognize his face, even after all these years.”

Newport Beach police hope a tool called the Parabon Snapshot, which uses DNA collected from the investigation to predict a criminal’s appearance, will help identify the killer, said Jennifer Manzella, a spokeswoman for the police department.

“We just need someone to look at that sketch and say, ‘Hey, I know this guy,’ ” Manzella said.

Parabon’s DNA procedures have been used by police around the nation, including in the investigation of the 1997 rape and slaying of Sunny Adrienne Sudweeks, a 26-year-old photography student at Orange Coast College. The suspect’s fingerprints from the Costa Mesa crime scene later were found to match his 2000 domestic violence conviction in Santa Ana. In 2017, police announced they would seek his extradition from Oaxaca, Mexico.

Linda O’Keefe vanished on July 6, 1973, leaving her house on Orchid Avenue in Corona del Mar at 8 a.m. to get a ride to summer school. She was last seen walking home from school that day. Linda’s parents reported her missing and volunteers, family members and police searched for Linda through the night.

Her body was discovered the next morning in a ditch off of Newport Beach’s Back Bay.

Marilyn Kalfus covers news, issues, and trends for The Orange County Register's award-winning Sunday Real Estate section, which in 2015 snagged first place for best U.S. newspaper real estate section from the National Association of Real Estate Editors. She also writes stories, edits photos and puts together slideshows for our popular Hot Homes feature about iconic, big-ticket and unusual properties on the market. On weekends, she edits police, breaking news and general assignment reporters.